Astronomers of Humboldt

Sky Charts

Here is a link to Sky & Telescope's Interactive Sky Chart at http://skychart.skytonight.com/observing/skychart/skychart.asp.
You will have to go through the setup procedure the first time you use this link, but after that it should take you directly to a Humboldt County sky map. Try Sky & Telescope's help page at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/help/ for more information.
Or you can download Sky & Telescope's Getting Started in Astronomy brochure as a printable pdf file.
It contains tips for beginners, bimonthly star charts, and a moon map.
You might also give a listen to Sky & Telescope's monthly Sky Podcast at http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/podcasts/.
You can hear a description of the sky online or you can download it to your favorite portable media player.
Or you might like Starry Night's Interactive Star Chart at http://www.starrynighteducation.com/skychart/.
Click the "Show Horizon" checkbox and the "Moon" tab to get an astronaut's-eye-view.
Another interactive chart is at Sky View Cafe at http://www.skyviewcafe.com/skyview.php.
You can get a customizable sky map (set the location to "Humboldt County"—they know where we are) and get charts or tables of planetary orbits, lunar phases, moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and more. There is also a downloadable shareware version available.
Alternatively you can get a printable star chart from Skymaps at http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html.
Click on the link for the Northern Hemisphere edition near the middle of the page.
And yet another source is Your Sky at http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yourhorizon/.
This site is by the Swiss author of the software Home Planet at http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/homeplanet.html. These interactive maps can be set to our latitude and longitude (roughly 41 degrees North and 124 degrees West). But if you want to see a map for a time other than "Now" you will have to use Universal Time: add 8 hours to Pacific Standard Time or 7 hours to Pacific Daylight Time.
If you want to obtain your own planetarium software to run on your own computer, a free open-source program is Stellarium at http://www.stellarium.org/.
It is available for for Windows, Mac, or Linux platforms. And did we remember to say it was free?
Or if you want a free mini-planetarium for your java-enabled phone or handheld device try Sideralis at http://www.stellarium.org/.
The site gives a list of phones that the program is compatible with. And, at the risk of sounding repetitive, did we remember to say it was free?